{"id":12771,"date":"2009-11-30T07:30:19","date_gmt":"2009-11-30T12:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/BrandTwist.com\/?p=1400"},"modified":"2018-10-18T20:14:40","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T20:14:40","slug":"5-creative-gifts-that-wont-break-the-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/inspiration\/5-creative-gifts-that-wont-break-the-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Creative Gifts that Won\u2019t Break the Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Present\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Holidays, and especially holiday gift giving, can be extremely taxing.<\/p>\n

But this year why not take a step back and create something special?<\/p>\n

Save the physically draining desperate crawl around the mall.<\/p>\n

Pour a \u00a0glass of wine or a mug of cocoa\u00a0and spend a bit more mental energy dreaming up something unique.<\/p>\n

You might find it doesn\u2019t take a lot more time, and it definitely won\u2019t cost more.<\/p>\n

Plus I always find I get more joy in giving (and getting) creative gifts.<\/p>\n

Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n

5 Creative Gift Ideas that Won\u2019t Break the Bank<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Write a Special Letter.
\n<\/strong>Think about what you love and admire about someone and put it down in writing.<\/p>\n

Not to be too morbid, but think about what you would say about them if they were gone and write it now to share with them while they can really appreciate it.<\/p>\n


\nIf long prose isn\u2019t your thing, you can make a bullet point list.<\/p>\n

Here are some thought starters. For Christmas, \u201c25 Reasons you Brighten My Life\u201d. For Hannukah, \u201c8 Things I Love Most About You\u201d.<\/p>\n

You can do this on the computer, choose a pretty font and print it out and deliver it in a frame.<\/p>\n

Of all gifts I’ve given my mother for Mother’s Day, she speaks most highly of the letter I sent her last year outlining how much I admired and appreciated her.<\/p>\n

2. Give a Jump Start on a Healthy New Year<\/strong>
\nYou\u2019ve probably heard your loved ones talk about how they\u2019d love to get in better shape.<\/p>\n

But the first step is the hardest. Help them on their way.<\/p>\n

Make sure it\u2019s associated with fun and learning something new so it doesn\u2019t do any damage to their self esteem (e.g. I\u2019d stay away from offering a Weight Watcher\u2019s membership and instead focus on something active that you can do together).<\/p>\n

Some ideas:<\/p>\n

\u2022 A certificate for a tennis lesson taped to a can of balls with a big bow.
\n\u2022 A new yoga mat with a schedule and check for the first lesson.
\n\u2022 An colorful print scarf with a certificate to try a Zumba dance class.<\/p>\n

3. A Book Club Just for Two
\n<\/strong>Give a book you\u2019ve been dying to read along with an invitation to drinks\/coffee to discuss it. Set a time and place (about 5 weeks out in your favorite coffee shop, wine bar etc). You can also include a list of questions with the book as thought starters.<\/p>\n

This is a great gift for long-distance friends as well. You can set a time to talk or Skype about the book.<\/p>\n

Also great for teenagers in your life. Send one of your favorites from when you were young.<\/p>\n

This works as a great grandchild to grandparent gift as well.<\/p>\n

4. Bath Time Fun<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s hard to know what to get for friends who have little ones, particularly if its not their first child, they usually have the big stuff already (e.g. strollers, high chairs).<\/p>\n

But one thing people always need more of is bath toys.<\/p>\n

This is because kids take lots of bath, the toys get a bit water logged and gross and kids always like new things for the bath.<\/p>\n

Buy a few inexpensive and colorful washcloths and wrap them with a half inexpensive bath toys.<\/p>\n

Think creatively.<\/p>\n

Lots of kitchen stuff works great in the tub too as long as it\u2019s plastic (ex. Measuring spoons and cups, basters, sieves etc.).<\/p>\n

5. Scavenger Hunt
\n<\/strong>We all know most of the fun of getting gifts is unwrapping them.<\/p>\n

And for kids (young and old) the fun is amplified when they have to find the gifts as well.<\/p>\n

Take inexpensive toys (ex. hair ribbons, candy, picture books, playing cards, dreidels, gum. stickers etc.) and wrap them each individually.<\/p>\n

Then create clues and hide them around the house.<\/p>\n

Give the kids flashlights so they feel like real explorers.<\/p>\n

For older kids, write out clues in the form of riddles.<\/p>\n

For younger ones draw \u201ctreasure\u201d maps. You can also hide little toys in plastic Easter eggs if you have any left over. In our house, we don\u2019t celebrate Easter, so we call these \u201cdinosaur eggs\u201d.<\/p>\n

I guarantee these little gifts will mean more than the big ones because of the experience around them. Also a great thing to do if you have a snowy vacation day with bored house-bound kids.<\/p>\n

A little creativity can go a long way during the holidays.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your twist? What are your tried and true creative gift ideas?<\/p>\n

Brand School<\/a><\/strong>, our highly effective, premier branding program,\u00a0will give you the insight and tools you need to innovate your brand and grow your business. Receive\u00a0more information about Brand School’s next session and get\u00a0free tools and tips<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>when you\u00a0<\/a>join our mailing list<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Brand School’s guidance and support has helped grow my business to new depths of expansion, creativity and financial worth… and\u00a0keep it growing and transforming to passionately share what I love with others.” –<\/i>\u00a0Deborah Coulter, deborahcoulterartflow.com<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holidays, and especially holiday gift giving, can be extremely taxing. But this year why not take a step back and create something special? Save the physically draining desperate crawl around the mall. Pour a \u00a0glass of wine or a mug of cocoa\u00a0and spend a bit more mental energy dreaming up something unique. You might find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,92,102,38,93,37,106],"tags":[40,41,60,42,45,74,75,138,76,139,140,141,142,131,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-12771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-childhood","7":"category-creativity","8":"category-finding-balance","9":"category-generating-ideas","10":"category-holidays-2","11":"category-inspiration","12":"category-shopping","13":"tag-brand","14":"tag-brand-building","15":"tag-brand-school","16":"tag-branding","17":"tag-brandtwist","19":"tag-business-growth","20":"tag-creative-gift-ideas","21":"tag-entrepreneur","22":"tag-family","23":"tag-gift","24":"tag-gift-ideas","25":"tag-giving","26":"tag-holidays","27":"tag-julie-cottineau"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16594,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12771\/revisions\/16594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}